The effects of mild congenital methylmercury intoxication on the metabolism of 3-hydroxybutyrate and glucose in the brains of suckling rats

: We studied the effects of mild congenital methylmercury toxicity upon intermediary metabolism in the developing brain. Female rats were injected intravenously with 10 mg/kg methylmercury chloride on the 4th day of impregnation. Controls received saline. At postnatal days 1, 7, 14 and 21, pup brain slices were incubated with either 3-hydroxy[3-14C]butyrate or [U-14C] glucose. The rate of oxidation of 3-hydroxybutyrate was significantly reduced at days 14 and 21 in the methylmercury-treated pups. There was a marked reduction in the incorporation of label from both substrates into total brain lipids during the most rapid phase of myelination. Incorporation of 14C from [U-14C] glucose into proteins was decreased at all ages. Since there was no decrease in the incorporation of [1-14C]leucine into proteins in the methylmercury-treated pups, this decrease could have resulted from changes in pool sizes of certain amino acids in the brain.